Author(s): Brian Patten

Children Fiction

The theme here is that no matter where you live, there are wonders all around you if you can only see them. Ben, on the 19th floor in a tower block in an ugly city finds a telescope. He is hoping for something wonderful to happen and it does. With the telescope it is like seeing everything for the first time: the colours and textures of the fruit in the market, each coloured thread of bright Indian cotton fabric.âÂÂHe saw a dragonfly on a pond With cathedral windows for each wing. He saw the red tongue of a wren When it opened up its beak to sing.â Here is a magical, lyrical and thought-provoking picture book told in a mixture of story and verse by one of todayâÂÂs most popular poets, Brian Patten. The wonder of the story is echoed perfectly in the beautifully detailed illustrations by Peter and Sian Bailey.